1. Field
Disclosed is methods, apparatuses, and systems relating to battery powered handheld units and, more particularly to battery management of the handheld or portable unit.
2. Background
In today's work environment, the average worker has access to numerous electronic tools to facilitate the worker's job. These electronic tools are often essential to the performance of the job, but almost always increase the worker's efficiency. Some tools are simple communication devices, such as, for example, pagers or the like. Other tools are more complex processing devices, such as, for example, handheld computing devices.
Frequently, the electronic tools or assets are owned by the employer. The employer provides a bank of units at a central dispatch center where the employee first arrives at work. The bank of units typically reside in a charging device to ensure the electronic tool has a fully or near fully charged battery. The worker, on arriving at the dispatch center, picks up the electronic tool and departs for the job site. The worker may stay on a particular job site for an entire shift or travel from site to site over the course of a shift. The worker typically does not return to the dispatch center until the end of the shift. At the end of the shift, the worker returns to the dispatch center and turns in the electronic tool.
The dispatch center receives the tool and puts the electronic tool in a recharge device for a predetermined amount of time. Once that predetermined amount of time lapses, the dispatch center returns the electronic tool to the bank of units for another worker (or potentially the same worker) to use over a corresponding shift. Ideally, the amount of time the electronic tool is charge is long enough for the electronic tool to fully recharge or sufficiently recharge to last the next shift.
Unfortunately, sometimes the battery for the electronic tool is damaged or the recharge time is insufficient for the electronic tool. Thus, the battery fails during the worker's shift. When the battery fails, the worker needs to return to the dispatch center to obtain either a replacement battery or a replacement unit. This wastes a significant amount of time for the worker and drains company resources. Alternatively, each electronic tool could be provided with a backup battery; however, this also is an inefficient use of company resources if the electronic tool battery is capable of lasting an entire shift in the normal course. Battery failure during a worker's shift is inefficient during the best of cases, but the down time is exacerbated if the battery failure occurs during a particular job. Failure of the battery during a job may require the worker to secure the job site, travel to and from the dispatch center for a new battery, and re-open the job site.
One can appreciate the dispatch center described above is exemplary, and other types of battery operated electronic tools can exhibit similar issues. For example, instead of a dispatch center being responsible for recharging an electronic tool, the worker may have an electronic tool signed out to the worker and it is the worker's responsibility to ensure the electronic tool is recharged prior to being on the job. In this case, the worker does not obtain a tool at a central location, but starts the day with an electronic tool. However, the electronic tool can still experience battery failure. In those cases, the worker would still need to travel to a site to receive a replacement battery or have a replacement battery delivered to the job site so the worker can continue working.
Whether centralized or not, the failure of a battery for an electronic tool during a work shift interrupts the work shift and cases inefficiencies. Thus, it would be desirous to provide an electronic tool that alerted the worker whether the battery has sufficient charge for the entire shift.